From the bizarre car design on the iconic 2CV, to the questionable air suspension systems through the 90s, Citroen always seem keen to break away from the mainstream, and has done it again.
This gamechanger comes in the form of the Ami, a fully-electric two-seater that was reportedly set to become the second coming of the 2CV, but instead, looks like it belongs in a Duplo set.
While it might seem like an oversight, the French brand has used this styling to appeal to 14-year-olds. Before you rubbish this idea, it falls into the quadcycle classification, meaning anyone over the age of 14 can drive it in France.
According to Citroen, the 'ami – 100% Electric' “has no equivalent in the mobility landscape” and will provide “protection greater than that offered by two- or three-wheeled vehicles and greater independence and comfort than public transport”. When you look at it like that, it's not a bad idea at all.
To continue this bizarre theme past the aesthetics, the Ami features one front-hinged door, and one rear-hinged door. Using exactly the same door twice keeps tooling simple, and in turn, keeps production costs down.
On top of this, the windows (which open from the bottom like the 2CV's), front and rear bumpers and under body panels are all symmetrical. This makes for a spiritual 2CV successor more so than a physical one.
Over in Europe, the French brand are trying to make it as cheap as a train ticket as it will cost around $10,000 all up, but also can be had from $34 a month with a $4,600 deposit.
As it is a city car, the Ami will top out at 45km/h, but we can imagine that the 5.5kWh battery will make it quite zippy. This also provides a range of up to 70km on a single charge, which isn't bad at all.
The infotainment system is your smartphone, and the speakers looks to be a BYO UE Boom situation. We aren't too sure about what's going on with the top of that dash, but it certainly looks funky.
If this isn't enough to get you excited about this quirky little beast, it's small enough to park head-on with the curb, getting rid of all parallel parking responsibilities.